Style is nothing without fit so choosing a perfect dress to complement your figure is important for looking great and feeling confident. Knowing your basic body shape will help you find flattering dresses that accentuate your features. Now that summer has arrived, it’s the perfect excuse to discover beautiful dresses for those summer days and evening soirees.

Take a look at our body shapes guide to help you pick the most flattering dresses to suit your silhouette.

Hourglass silhouette

If you have a fuller bust, rounded bottom and hips, and a small waist, you have the characteristics of an hourglass shape. For ladies that have this figure, experiment with a flattering dresses that contour your shape yet avoid bulk around your curves.

To create a visual balance in your outfit:

Opt for a V-neck or scooping necklines

Try bold and block colours for contouring

Accentuate your waist with nipped in or belted styles

Avoid fussy styles, dropped sleeve lines and high necklines

Apple shapes

For ladies that have fullness around the middle, great legs and a rounder shoulder line, you have the characteristics of an apple shape. To style your shape, contour your bodyline and avoid detail around the tummy and hips.

To create a visual balance in your look:

Opt for V-neck dresses to accentuate your chest area

Choose wrap dresses which are great for skimming waist and balancing shoulders

Wear a statement pendant offering a focal point

Avoid wearing belts and dresses above knee length

Pear silhouette

Full hip and thighs, a defined waist and smaller shoulders and bust area often outline this common shape. A great way to accentuate your features and balance your top and bottom half is to create broader shoulders.

Athletic or rectangle shapes

For ladies with an athletic shape, your figure may showcase a straight shoulder line, little waist definition and straight hip and bottom area. If you’d like definition in your silhouette, creating the illusion of curves is a great way to achieve a fantastic look.

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Denim lover Sally Allen-Gerard spent two years researching different fabrics and technologies in a quest to create the perfect pair of jeans. The result of her labours is Wizard Jeans a label that uses new technology and figure hugging cuts to produce the most flattering jeans around. Hailed as the denim equivalent of Spanx Wizard jeans are designed to make women of all shapes and sizes look and feel amazing. These are jeans for the young and old, for the fashion conscious and trend adverse dresser alike. Whatever your style a pair of well cut Wizard jeans are guaranteed to be an invaluable addition to your wardrobe.

Wizard jeans create a variety of styles designed to both fulfil current fashion trends and provide the wearer with the ideal fit. The label’s signature ‘Wizard’ jeans, for example, are designed to elongate the legs whilst the skinny ‘Gina’ style is cut specially to minimise the dreaded muffin top. In essence Wizard jeans provide the style denim fans love whilst also minimising the unwanted bulges and disproportions that come with them. The brand mostly sticks the traditional denim colours yet for this summer’s collection Wizard embraces a sunny weather palette of light blues, pinks and yellows; tie dye also makes an appearance. Detailing is generally kept to a minimum with the exception of the diamante speckled Sienna Jeans. The result of all this is jeans that not only flatter the female form but that can also be styled in a variety of ways; these are jeans that could be worn in a muddy field at a festival or styled up for a day out in the city. These are jeans that could impress both the fashion forward youngster and the mature, fuss free dresser.

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Founded by two Parisians Jenny and Delphine accessories brand Hipanema and its ready-to-wear sister label Amenapih create colourful, attractive pieces ideal for free spirited fashionistas. The pair met whilst travelling in Brazil and soon decided to bring a little Brazilian glamour back to Europe. They started by adding magnetic clasps to colourful, handmade Brazilian bracelets thus turning them into easy to wear accessories; they then went on to expand Hipanema’s range to include bags, belts and swimwear. Now the duo have launched a ready-to-wear collection, named Amenapih, which is, once again, infused with Brazilian colour and vitality. These are clothes and accessories that are just made for white sandy beaches and exotic foreign adventures.

Hipanema and Amenapih’s vivid, eclectic and exotic aesthetic is unmistakably bohemian yet also accessible; these are clothes and accessories that any style conscious women can wear with confidence. This is fashion designed to add a little fun, colour and exotic glamour to any wardrobe; though Hipanema and Amenapih’s may be born in Rio they could easily be worn on the streets of London or Paris. A Hipanema bracelet could be worn as easily with jeans, a white shirt and blazer as it could with one of the brand’s sexy and vibrant bikinis. Similarly a bright Amenapih dress could grace the city streets, a raucous festival or a serene beach. In essence Hipanema and Amenapih’s designs are striking but sartorially flexible and effortlessly stylish; these are not kooky, idiosyncratic pieces but distinctive, lively products that can be worn on a daily basis and incorporated into a fashion conscious wardrobe.

Brazil is one of the most vibrant countries on the planet and Hipanema and Amenapih capture this vibrancy in their designs. You may not be heading to Rio this summer but Hipanema and Amenapih are dedicated to bringing a little bit of Brazil to you.

–Hannah Balsdon

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SBP creates stylish sexy underwear for women tired of choosing between comfort and sensuality or between elegance and coverage. The labels high-waisted but flattering knickers are a world away from both the baggy grandma pants and the super sexy frilly knickers that tend to languish at the back of many an underwear draw. This is underwear that is sexy and snug; pants that women of all shapes and sizes can wear with complete confidence. SBP’s lingerie is well designed and easy to wear; this is chic, restrained underwear that could fit snugly into a woman’s wardrobe. Whilst many lingerie brands present an erotic fantasy of feminine sexuality SBP creates stylish, elegant pants that celebrate and flatter real women.

SBP’s knickers come in five different styles; each style is designed to capture a particular mood or personality. The designs range from the elegant and classic to the flirtatious and sensual; whatever your bedroom style SBP have a pant for you. Lingerie staples such as lace, bows and peek-a-boo openings all make an appearance yet all in a restrained manner; these are not frilly pants but wearable knickers for day to day use. Whilst each SBP pant varies in surface design they are all high-waisted; this figure hugging cut ensures that each pair perfectly fits and flatters the female form. These are not knickers that require a Victoria’s Secret Angel’s body, this is lingerie that will suit any women not matter what her size.

It can often be difficult to find a pair knickers that combine both practicality and sensuality; there are very few lingerie labels that provide women with fuss free but sexy underwear, SBP is one such brand. SBP’s knickers allow women to be sexy on their own terms, to express their own tastes and individuality in the most personal way. In short SBP create sexy, sensual knickers that any woman can wear with pride.